4.5 lakh first time voters in Assam

For this year's General Elections there is an increase of 6.9 percent in the voters from 2009 (PTI)

With 4.5 lakh first time voters, Assam will see a total of 1.87 crore electors exercising their franchise to elect the representatives during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in April-May.

“The elections in Assam will be held in three phases. We have 1.87 crore people registered in the electoral rolls who can exercise their voting rights to elect 14 representatives,” Assam Chief Electoral Officer Vijayendra told reporters here.

The number of voters this year constitute 57.25 per cent of Assam’s total population and it has gone up by 13 lakh from 1.74 crore voters in last Lok Sabha elections in 2009, he said.

“We published the latest electoral rolls in January this year and the number has increased by 6.6 lakh from the last rolls in January 2013,” the CEO said.

When asked about the first time voters, Vijayendra said 4.5 lkh youngsters in the age group of 18-19 years would vote for the first time in the Lok Sabha elections .

Talking about the ‘D’ (doubtful/disputed/dubious) voters, the CEO said the number stands at around 1.42 lakh in the state.

On Election photo identity card (EPIC), he said Assam will have its first election with such identification system
although it already exists in other parts of the country.

When asked how much could be the total expenditure of the three-phase elections in Assam, Vijayendra said: “It is estimated to be around Rs 82 crore. During the last Assembly elections in Assam in 2011, we had spent around Rs 79 crore.”

Speaking about the polling stations, he said the elections would be held at 24,275 polling stations across the
state, which is an increase of 28.93 per cent from 18,828 booths in 2009 Lok Sabha elections